DOMINIQUE FRICOT (CA) & Songwriters Session, Folk indie

The Folk Road Show will be bringing their entertaining presence and musical stylings to the musigbistrot on the 03 of october. Comprised of singer-songwriters Dominique Fricot, Benjamin James Caldwell, Olaf Caarls and Pieter Van Vliet, the group hope to “bring an old time approach to new music” with their globe-trotting shows.
Vancouver-based alternative folk artist Fricot released his latest album, Sweet Little Fantasy, last year, having mastered the perfect mix of soul-induced, smooth vocals and a catchy melody. Along with Broken Down Suitcase’s Caldwell, Long Conversations’ vocalist Caarls and Port of Call’s Van Vliet. Their second summer tour across Canada and Europe sees the musicians performing individual sets, before performing a collaborative finale.

Dominique Fricot has come a long way since his humble, indie-rock beginnings in The Painted Birds. Taking a brave step into the deep-end of solo artistry, Fricot dove into the creative currents of his emotionally potent EP, If Baby Could Walk, in 2012.

Tumbling into local cult fame, the Vancouver native’s swoon-worthy baritone ballads and honest lyrics named him the third place winner in The Peak Performance Project and won him the Shore 104.3’s Best of BC award on September 2012.

The climb continued for Fricot in 2013, as he journeyed to numerous festival stages such as Live at Squamish Music Festival, Winterruption, and Canadian Music Week. Acoustic hits such as “Strange Lady” and “Out of the Scenery” began to make their television debut with productions such as Vancouver-based sci-fi series, Continuum and CW’s Beauty and the Beast.

Fricot’s first full-length album, Sweet Little Fantasy (2014), has since taken him to new heights. Out of 4,000 entries, Fricot became a Top 10 Regional Finalist in the CBC Searchlight competition and for eight weeks his latest single, “I Miss the 80s”, held fifth place on CBC Radio 2’s Top 20 charts. With his recent success, Fricot embarked on his first European tour, visiting venues across the UK, Netherlands, Germany, France and Switzerland in fall 2014.

Orphaned at the onset of manhood, Fricot originally turned to music to plumb the depths of his emotions and translate his poignant feelings of grief into something positive. Finding his stride and new sense of maturity as an artist, he continues to make sense of the feeling of irrevocable loss through his candid skill of raw, uninhibited storytelling.

His discography blazes a new trail in genre, treading the line between post-brit pop, indie-rock, and folk. With his spellbinding strings, electrically charged vocals, and genuine onstage charisma, it’s impossible not to be charmed by Fricot and the honesty expelled in his music.

Singles “Haunted By Love” and “Burn and Start Over” have become the soundtrack of road trips and lazy Sunday afternoons, being regularly broadcast on quality Vancouver radio stations, The Peak 102.7 and the Shore 104.3. Evidence of Fricot’s lyrical mastery is in the numbers of listens of “Haunted By Love” on Spotify, now reaching over 400,000 plays.

With Fricot’s sophomore release, Sweet Little Fantasy (2014), there is more proof than ever of Fricot’s artistic maturity. Working with favoured producer Warne Livesey, Fricot has constructed an album that artfully chronicles the momentous moments of his life. In these powerful tracks, Fricot breaks your heart, mends it, and breaks it all over again with tales of loss, love, grief, and an overarching feeling of hope.

Weaving the punchy, sanguine sounds of his recent single, “I Miss the 80s”, and the bittersweet melodies of “Saddest Thing”, Fricot sews some of the most potent ups and downs of his formative years into a seamless fabric. Cathartically, Fricot returns to song writing as a way to find solace, and in the process, produces music that could make a grown man weep.